A Contest for Young Writers -- by Janet Cooper Taylor

What's more fun than a writing contest? A youth writing contest!
That's right. Panhandle Professional Writers' (PPW) 2012 Youth Writing Contest is now underway. All students in grades 3 through 12, sharpen your pencils and let the words flow, or turn on your computer and start tapping those keys. How many awesome short stories, poems, or memoirs can your mind conjure up? Submit as many entries as you'd like. The deadline for submissions is May 1, 2012, and it doesn't cost a dime.

We'd love to see a great showing from all of the school districts in the Texas panhandle, parts of New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Published authors will judge the entries. Awards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each category and grade level group will be presented on July 21. As that date nears, times and place details will be available on PPW's website.

Are you the next Sylvia Plath, Rudyard Kipling, Edgar Allan Poe, John Steinbeck, Virginia Woolf, F. Scott Fitzgerald? Even if you aren't writing is a great way to express yourself. it's a talent that will serve you well throughout your life. Writing contests are great ways to hone your writing skills, get constructive criticism, and let your creative side shine. It's great entertainment, cheap fun, and your book may be made into a movie some day. And, to think it all happened because you entered the Panhandle Professional Writers' 2012 Youth Writing Contest!

For details about the contest, you can download the brochure containing the rules and the entry form by going to the Youth Writing Contest page on PPW's website www.panhandleprowriters.org.

(c), 2012 Janet Cooper Taylor